Do you remove and clean the engine sump on a new arrival?

[Rata Road]

I think from now on each old car I buy I will remove and inspect the sump for sludge.

I drained the oil on my 30 Triumph Super 7 last year and noticed a slug of gunk oozing out at the end of the process. When I took the sump off I found this -

 

Yesterday I removed the sump on my 27 Chrysler 50 and found about 1/2 inch of crud the full length of the sump.

I wonder how many of my other old cars have a layer of this?

 

 

 

[Joe Cocuzza]

I ALWAYS do this when I get a car.

It also allows me to clean the pickup screen from the oil pump - which is usually plugged up with the same sludge.

[yachtflame]

Looks like some water is mixed in in that second photo.

[tom_in_nh]

This was inside of a junior Packard oil pan. 

Never underestimate the will of mice!

[dodge28]

If the engine runs, run it hot for about 20 minutes and drain. pour in 2 quarts of varsol in the sump and spin the engine {no fire) FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES . Put some air through the dipstick tube down the sump for a few minutes and drain sump, Pour some Varsol on the valve train too. 

[JFranklin]

Drop the pan, don't skip this important job. Spinning an engine for 10 minutes will burn up a starter.

[automaschinewerks]

always always always, my cars i have bought all have sat for years, i remove and clean the oil pan before i crank and engine over even just to try it.  even if i have drained and refilled with clean oil.  the oil pan will always have sludge in the bottom of it, and i dont want any of it or the old oil starting to draw up into the oil pump/screen or oil galleries.

[R Walling]

 When you have to poke your finger in the oil drain hole for the oil to come out, it's time to drop the pan and clean it!  😅

Edited May 3, 2023 by R Walling (see edit history)

[zdillinger]

I've learned my lesson with my current project Pontiac and will always drop the pan first on any new project from this point forward. It would have saved me some aggravation.

[hidden_hunter]

I dropped the pan on my cadillac... and found part of the cam gear in it

[TAKerry]

I used to buy a lot of vintage motorcycles. I openly admit I know nothing about motors. Although some were very tempting when they arrived at the shop, I didnt touch a thing until after they were sent off to my mechanic for a once over.

[60FlatTop]

My youthful haunts were old car junkyards and second rate used car lots. Engine piles and rear end piles were common. I still remember the water that would pour out of an oil drain plug or a third member after they has been exposed to a few years of heating and cooling cycles.

Most aged cars have spent some period of time in "unintended long term storage". It is really though on them and recommissioning, sometimes a number of times, can do more damage than years of wear.

I think I was 14 or 15 years old when I began to cringe and feel my skin crawl when one of the old BSer's would talk about the the car they just put a battery in "and she fired right up just like new". Maybe, but a week later it probably wasn't running.

 

The rear axle is probably the most neglected component on old cars. Start driving with a pint to a quart of water churning around with the old dried grease at any significant speed or distance and it won't last long.

 

Even a car that is used on a regular basis has many overlooked points of service. A friend once pointed out service in an old Rolls-Royce manual. "It says lubricate this weekly. That means every week, whether you drive it or not." Even if it sits for ten years.

[Mark Shaw]

Many do not realize that most older vehicles did not have oil filters.

The oil sumps were actually oversized to act as a settling basin to remove solids and semi-solids from the oil. 

These vehicles typically did not go over 50-60 thousand miles before an "engine overhaul" would include cleaning the oil sump.

 

 

[60FlatTop]

48 minutes ago, Mark Shaw said:

These vehicles typically did not go over 50-60 thousand miles before an "engine overhaul" would include cleaning the oil sump

Valve job at 30,000, engine overhaul at 50,000, junkyard 80,000. On the really good stuff. In the 1960s we heard rumors about cars driven over 100,000 miles in California. Freeways, you know.

[Rusty_OToole]

What do you do in the case of cars with IFS where the front crossmember prevents removing the oil pan without some fairly serious work?

[gossp]

50 minutes ago, Rusty_OToole said:

What do you do in the case of cars with IFS where the front crossmember prevents removing the oil pan without some fairly serious work?

The answer is simple: stick with prewar cars and never face this issue. 

[DFeeney]

For the expense of a oil pan gasket it is time and money well spent.  As mentioned you might get surprised.

[Hans1]

Several 1920's to 30's Ive had,  have found 2 to 4 inches of sludge.  

Dip stick oil looked good, but with pans down, found paths like channels where oil just ran thry the the viscous sludge.

 

always remove oil pan!!!

 

Also severe deposits of crud in water jackets........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[63RedBrier]

I'm a 40+ year Corvair nut and I bought a Rampside once that had an inch+ of gray "clay" on the inside bottom of the oil pan!  I was told it was because of leaded fuel.  Ever since then every Corvair I purchased had the oil pan removed to ensure I didn't run into another abomination!  Not one since that Rampside was even close to that bad, but just for peace of mind I know its clean!  Don't take a chance!  Spend the time, get or make a new pan gasket, and remove and clean the pan and pickup!

[hidden_hunter]

For those wondering this is what I found in my oil pan… and where it came from

 

This is the outcome of some moron running it with a stuck valve